A day here at the faculty, organizing with people in pathology, fighting with the internet, and visiting with Lawrence Mugisha, the vet and manager of the Ngamba Island chimpanzee sanctuary near Entebbe. He is actually is a friend of one of my previous grad students and one of my OVC students has just spent a month on the Island on a research project, so we had lots to catch up on. After work I finally got my bird book out - I’m sure I look like and idiot wandering around with binoculars and this big honking book, but people take a second look at me anyway so it doesn’t really matter. Their reaction to me is interesting - I get a number of sidelong looks, but as soon as I say “ hello, how are you?” I get big smiles. Very nice friendly people.
On the weather and bathing
The weather here is quite perfect. There was a more rain last time I was here - this is the ‘drier” season and the vegetation shows it to some degree. We haven’t had a drop so far. Every day has been 25+ with sunshine .Very pleasant although if one is walking around a lot the sweat comes out pretty quickly and washing before bed is essential. I would say showers before bed, but the water and water pressure are not very reliable. I haven’t had a proper shower yet as there isn’t enough pressure to get it to come out of the shower head. Fortunately there has been water every night. This isn’t all bad as a sponge bath in a basin isn’t quite as much of a shock to the system as a cold shower can be- there is no hot water and some evenings what comes out of the tap seems a bit on the chilly side. I think I gave Betty the scare of her life last night - I was in the bathroom washing and she turned off the light in the anteroom which connects to my bedroom, the bathroom/shower area, and the kitchen. There is no functioning light in the shower so it was rather on the dark side. So I opened the bathroom door and quickly ducked into the anteroom to turn the light back on at the exact same time Betty opened the door from the lounge to get something from the kitchen. I’ve never seen anyone twirl and cover their eyes as fast as she did - I’m sure she was mortally embarrassed by my wet, naked, pale person. We haven’t felt the need to speak about the episode.
On manners
Manners in Uganda are very different from North America. Politeness, respect, and proper forms of address are very important. This morning Denis and I did the rounds of the Pathology, Anatomy, and Clinical Pathology groups doing a meet and greet, arranging to have some gorilla tissues processed when they arrive next week, looking for a microscope that the video camera I brought will fit on, and tracking down a multiheaded microscope that I saw on a brochure for the Vet School that Denis didn’t know existed. Every time we met someone it was the same - shake hands, say good morning, ask how the other person is, enquire about their family, ask how was their sleep, and add a few more pleasantries. Handshakes are also very different - take someone’s hand loosely and hold it in yours, possibly until the end of the conversation. I guess it acts as a conversational link - one often sees men walking hand in hand as they discuss some topic. One never starts right into a conversation or just asks about something, the niceties have to be observed. Sometimes that’s hard to remember when you have something pressing in mind.
The differences came out with a group of US students who were here - although their behaviour was very acceptable by North American standards, they were quite incensed about things starting late and the disorganization and didn’t hesitate to say so. When the last lecturer before lunch didn’t show up on time, but texted to say he was on his way, they had an open debate in front of the Ugandan faculty member who was organizing the morning program as to whether it was worth sticking around, or whether they should just take off and head out for the Chinese lunch they had planned. An American woman who was sitting in on their week’s program and has lived here and around the world for a while went and apologized to the faculty member on their behalf .
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